Digging into gardening trends for 2008
by Jeanie GillisThere are a variety of ways to add interest to your garden this year – here are some of the top trends:
• Bright, vivid color, and lots of it, will be popular in the garden this year. Color can be accomplished by adding annuals and tender perennials. Dahlias are the flower I call "the flower factory." They are easy to grow and provide lots of bright beautiful flowers.
• Container gardening is a hot alternative to traditional flowerbeds. They are easy to care for and you can create numerous unusual combinations. Use your imagination and anything goes in any type of container. Mix up annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, even trees and shrubs. I love the combination of Lime Light Hydrangea, Light Green Sweet Potato Vine, White Bacopa and Peppermint Scented Geraniums. The only thing hard about container gardening is remembering to water them. Containers do require more water than flowers planted in the ground.
• If you love roses but are afraid they might be too much work, try one of the new Rose Topiaries or Rose Standards. You can add it to your garden already in topiary or standard form or challenge yourself by growing your own.
• Do like to garden in the shade? If so, hostas are the perfect addition to your shade garden. Hosta is the absolutely easiest perennial to grow in the shade. The extremes are a great addition to the landscape. Superzized ones like Earth Angel – 2009 Hosta of the Year – or the favorite Sum and Substance, or the tiny Mouse Ears and Istsy Bitsy Spider would all be easy to add and grow.
• Hydrangea is the quintessential Cape Cod plant and is still very much in style. This plant family has tons of new offerings, with many able to grow in the most finicky locations. If you love hydrangeas and want to add more to your garden, be sure to become a member of the newly formed Cape Cod Hydrangea Society and also be sure to visit their new display garden debuting this summer at Heritage Museums & Gardens.
• Go native! One of the reasons we live on Cape Cod is its natural beauty. Integrate native plants into your landscape and take advantage of their natural beauty. This will also make it easier on yourself, as native plants are less demanding to care for. They require less water and usually no fertilizer, great for being mindful of the ecology of Cape Cod. One of my favorite natives is bayberry. It often grows where you can't get anything else to grow. The glossy green leaves look beautiful and accent just about anything in the garden.
• Succulents are all the rage right now, being edgy and almost tropical. With a wide variety of forms, they can grow in gardens, containers or as a focal point or sculpture. I like adding sedums, aloes, jades, cactus and succulents because no matter where you plant them, they will grow well with little care and still always look stunning.
• A new trend is the idea of growing vegetables in other ways besides the traditional rowed plot. Grow veggies in containers, the perennial garden, mix them up with herbs or add them into your landscape bed. Grow them in a very visible location so you remember to take care of them as well as harvest their bounty. New on my list this year is the miniature eggplant Hansel – the 2008 All America Selection Vegetable Award Winner.
• Green is the hot color in the garden right now. There are lots of new and well-known green plants. Whether green flowers or green foliage, green plants are easy to add to your landscape because green goes with everything. Green Envy Echinacea, Pele Coleus, Bells of Ireland, Francesca Primula, Elephant Ears, Gunnera and Euphorbia are just a few of the plants you can look for to get more green in your own garden.
The best way to discover new trends and get ideas is to attend flower shows and visit other gardens. The New England Flower Show is one of the best and Cape Cod has some of the most beautiful gardens to visit. For a complete list of 2008 flower shows and garden tours, contact me at Heritage Museums & Gardens.
Jeanie Gillis is director of horticulture at the Heritage Museums & Gardens. She can be reached at (508) 888-3300, ext. 118, or jgillis@heritagemuseums.org.
Published in Cape Business Health & Wealth March/April 2008
